# Pardon me boy... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808 "2008-05-10T14:27:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/1 "2008-05-10T14:27:53Z")
Is that the Chattanooga choo choo? Now, aside from the racist term “boy”, which we can understand was just the times that it was written in, I am ok with this song. Up until the very next lyric: Track twenty-nine… Now wait just a gol darn “you can give me a shine” minute there!!! Track twenty freaking nine!?! I know some of our great train stations had a lot of passenger platforms, but TWENTY NINE? Or maybe… He just needed a rhyme! ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/2 "2008-05-10T14:30:37Z")
Indeed, it is fact that there was a time when shoe shines were common in train stations and that shoe shine boys were called, um, boys. Some of the shoe shine boys were \ white! :rolleyes: I’d like someone to do a cover of that song and make it platform 9 3/4. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/3 "2008-05-10T14:42:06Z")
So Roy Rogers bought a brand new pair of custom made cowboy-style loafers. He loved those shoes so much, he even wore them one day when he rode Trigger. But it was a muddy ride and the shoes were caked. He decided he’d let the mud dry overnight and knock it off in the morning, so he left the shoes outside of his ranch house. During the night a mountain lion was attracted by the smell of new leather, and chewed the expensive footwear to shreds. Well, Roy wasn’t about to stand for that! He went out immediately and tracked that mountain lion, and shot it dead. He slung the cat over the Trigger’s haunches and rode home. When he got there, Dale Evans, who knew what he intended to do that day, said ‘Pardon me, Roy. Is that the cat that chewed the new shoes?’ ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/4 "2008-05-10T14:46:51Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Wanderer] Track twenty-nine… Now wait just a gol darn “you can give me a shine” minute there!!! Track twenty freaking nine!?! I know some of our great train stations had a lot of passenger platforms, but TWENTY NINE? Or maybe… He just needed a rhyme! [/QUOTE] > **[Grand Central Terminal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Central_Terminal)** > > Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus of the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Lines, serving the northern parts of the New York metropolitan area. It also serves the Long Island Rail Road through Grand Central Madison, a 16-acre (6.5 ha) addition to the station located underneath t... > [@](#): > > Built by and named for the New York Central Railroad in the heyday of American long-distance passenger trains, it is the largest train station in the world by number of platforms:[3] 44, with 67 tracks along them. They are on two levels, both below ground, with 41 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/5 "2008-05-10T14:55:21Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Wanderer] Is that the Chattanooga choo choo? Now, aside from the racist term “boy”, which we can understand was just the times that it was written in, I am ok with this song. Up until the very next lyric: [/QUOTE] Boy, I never even thought this was a racist song..thanks for enlightening me. I will never listen to this song again. ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/6 "2008-05-10T15:02:40Z")
I have a sister-in-law who is in the habit of inventing new terms, phrases, expressions, and alternate lyrics to songs, very unselfconsciously, and seemingly without even being aware she’s doing it. Whenever she sings this song, she starts it out: “Excuse me there sir… is that the Chattenooga Choo Choo” ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/7 "2008-05-10T15:22:01Z")
[QUOTE=MadTheSwine] Boy, I never even thought this was a racist song..thanks for enlightening me. I will never listen to this song again. [/QUOTE] Actually, it isnt racist. It was actually written by a black man using the directions given to him by Duke Ellington on how to get uptown to his Harlem apartment. Racist would be if it was written yesterday. It was written in a time when calling an adult man Boy or George [pretty much all pullman porters were called george no matter what their name was] was common and actually pretty much expected. If a black man was mature he would be boy, if he was older he would commonly be called uncle. Same as a woman would be Girl, Auntie or Mammy/mamma. I believe it was the black jazz musicians that started calling each other ‘man’ casually as a reaction to always being called boy but I really dont have a cite for that, it was something I heard hanging out and talking with musicians in Newport a few years ago. Oddly enough, back in the early 60s my parents taught me to call black men Mr [first name] and women Miss [first name]. For having been born before the beginning of the depression, I have to admit that my parents are about as unprejudiced as I have seen. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/8 "2008-05-10T15:30:11Z")
[QUOTE=aruvqan] Actually, it isnt racist. It was actually written by a black man using the directions given to him by Duke Ellington on how to get uptown to his Harlem apartment. Racist would be if it was written yesterday. It was written in a time when calling an adult man Boy or George [pretty much all pullman porters were called george no matter what their name was] was common and actually pretty much expected. If a black man was mature he would be boy, if he was older he would commonly be called uncle. Same as a woman would be Girl, Auntie or Mammy/mamma. I believe it was the black jazz musicians that started calling each other ‘man’ casually as a reaction to always being called boy but I really dont have a cite for that, it was something I heard hanging out and talking with musicians in Newport a few years ago. Oddly enough, back in the early 60s my parents taught me to call black men Mr [first name] and women Miss [first name]. For having been born before the beginning of the depression, I have to admit that my parents are about as unprejudiced as I have seen. [/QUOTE] I was being sarcastic,it wasn’t racist then and it wouldn’t be now. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/9 "2008-05-10T15:33:50Z")
[QUOTE=aruvqan] Actually, it isnt racist. It was actually written by a black man using the directions given to him by Duke Ellington on how to get uptown to his Harlem apartment. [/QUOTE] Um, you’re thinking of ‘Take the A Train’, written by Billy Strayhorn. As for The Chattanooga Choo-Choo… > [@wikipedia](#): > > The song was written by the team of Mack Gordon and Harry Warren while traveling on the Southern Railway’s “Birmingham Special” train. The song tells the story of travelling from New York City to Chattanooga. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/10 "2008-05-10T19:50:57Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] > **[Grand Central Terminal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Central_Terminal)** > > Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus of the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Lines, serving the northern parts of the New York metropolitan area. It also serves the Long Island Rail Road through Grand Central Madison, a 16-acre (6.5 ha) addition to the station located underneath t... [/QUOTE] But the Chattanooga Choo leaves Pennsylvania station at a quarter to four. Read a magazine and then you’re in Baltimore. Still, it had as many if not more tracks than Grand Central. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/11 "2008-05-10T19:56:14Z")
[QUOTE=postcards] Um, you’re thinking of ‘Take the A Train’, written by Billy Strayhorn. As for The Chattanooga Choo-Choo… [/QUOTE] ROFL I realized that when I got into the bathroom, threw on my Ipod into the speakers and hit shuffle and it was the second thing up=) of course it segued into minnie the moochers wedding day so it was reet shower today=) Although Billy Strayhorn was both black and gay … talk about being opressed! It is refreshing to think that he still managed to have quite a remarkable career. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/12 "2008-05-10T20:12:06Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] Still, it had as many if not more tracks than Grand Central. [/QUOTE] Nope. Penn Station only ever had 21 tracks. Still does. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/13 "2008-05-10T22:41:14Z")
I recall a Japanese band I heard when I was overseas who sang it: “_gomen asai_, is that a chatanooga choo choo…” ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/14 "2008-05-10T22:50:45Z")
I was just watching Black Books last night, the episode where Manny’s parents come to stay. His dad hums this tune all the time, to the chagrin of Bernard. Laughs ensue. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/15 "2008-05-10T23:24:22Z")
. . . is that the Transylvania Station? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/16 "2008-05-11T00:23:19Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] . . . is that the Transylvania Station? [/QUOTE] Ja, ja - track 29 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/17 "2008-05-11T00:52:03Z")
[QUOTE=postcards] Nope. Penn Station only ever had 21 tracks. Still does. [/QUOTE] The new one has the exact same number of tracks as the one they torn down in 1963? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/18 "2008-05-11T01:03:02Z")
[QUOTE=aruvqan] Ja, ja - track 29 [/QUOTE] Can I give you a shine? ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/19 "2008-05-11T02:18:28Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] The new one has the exact same number of tracks as the one they torn down in 1963? [/QUOTE] They didn’t change the platform level, they just razed one of the greatest landmarks ever built and put up the ugly wart known as Madison Square Garden. Hey, let’s sacrifice our national heritage so drunken New Yawkers have a place to watch sweaty men pummel one and other, and throw balls around! ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808/20 "2008-05-11T02:56:25Z")
Yep, on my CD it is track 29, and track 30 is the song Mammy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-me-boy/448808.md?page=2)